Improvement in vises



W. E. SNEDIKER.

VISES.

No.188,688. Patented March 20,1877.

N. PEI'ERS. FHOTOJJTHOGRAPNER. WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED PATENT QEEIGE WILLIAM E. SNEDIKER, 0E TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

"IMPROVEMENT IN VISES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. ;l88,688, dated March20, 1877; application filed February 12, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. SNE IKER, of Trenton, in the county ofMercer-and State of New Jersey, have invented ,an Improvementin Vises;and 11 do hereby declare that the following is .a full, clear, and exact,description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, forming part ,of this specification.

My invention is an improvement upon a vise Letters Patent .for whichwere granted to John E. Sinclair, said patent hearing date November 1,1870, and numbered 108,840.

In the invention of the said Sinclair a clamping piece or block, and anut fitted ,tothe screw of the vise are inclosed in acarriage whichslides in the sheath, the upper part of the said clamping piece or blockbeing notched to engage with notches formed on the inner side of theupper part of the sheath, the under side of said clamping-block beinginclined or beveled to work on the inclined or beveled upper side of thenut, a separate carriage inclosing said nut and clamping-block, beingattached to the'inner end of the screw in such manner as not to turnwith the screw, but to hold the said nut and clamping-block in relationwith each other, and with the notched inner and upper part of thesheath, so that the first action of the screw in turning the same toclamp a piece of work in the vise would slide the inclined upper surfaceof the nut upon the inclined under surface of the clamping-block,causing the notches in the upper side of said clamping-block to engagethe notches in the sheath, which, by such engagement, prevented thefurther movement of the nut, and caused the screw to press the movablejaw of the vise toward the fixed jaw. The opposite movement of the"screw not only released the piece held in the vise, but slid back thesaid nut and carriage, which, releasing the said clamping-block from itsengagement with the sheath, thus permitted the sword to be freely slidin or out of the sheath without turning the screw.

The object of my improvement is to dispense with the separate carriagefor holding the said nut and clamping-block in proper relation with eachother and the sheath, and thereby to enable the jaws of the vise toreceive between them pieces of greater thickness than such vises of thesame size could hitherto hold.

The invention partly consists in a peculiar construction of the innerend of the sword, and the arrangement therein of the nut on the screwand the clamping-block, in such manner that they will be held inproperrelation and act to clamp the nut without the use of the separatecarriage.

The invention further consists in the employment with the said nut andclampingblock, arranged as hereinafter described, of a supporting-blockfor the nut arranged in the bottom of the sword, as hereinafterdescribed.

Figure 1 in the drawing represents a central vertical longitudinalsection through a vise constructed according to my improvement. Fig. 2is a vertical cross-section on the line a: :r in Fig. 1.

A represents the movable jaw of the vise, and B the fixed jaw of thesame. 0 is the sword to which thejaw A is attached, and D is the sheathin which said sword slides. The sald sword is preferably, but notnecessarily, made rectangular in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 2, andit has a rectangular hollow, M, extending nearly its entire length. Nearthe lnner end of said sword is formed an upper rectangular slot, F, andlower rectangular slot J.

E is the screw of the vise, which has the male screwthread L, Fig. 1,formed thereon. Upon the threaded part of the screw E is fitted the nutG, which also, in its cross-sect1on,corresponds to the cross-section ofthe sheath D. Upon the top of said nut is formed an inclined plane, N,Fig. 1. A set-nut, I, is

screwed on a smaller thread at the end of the screw E.

H is the clam pin g-block, formed with notches non 1ts upper side toengage with notches n, Fig. 1, 1n the sheath, and having the inclinedplane N on its under side. Said clampingblock is loosely fitted in theupper slot F of the sword O.

In a recess formed in the upper part of the sword, on the front side ofthe slot F, is placed a spring, P, Fig. 1, which acts against the frontside of the block H, and which, while it has suflicient strength toforce the inclined plane N up over the inclined plane N, does not bindthe clamping-block H in the slot F, to prevent the free verticalmovement of said clamping-block.

In the lower slot J of the sword O is loosely fitted thesupporting-block K, upon which rests the nut G. Said supporting-blockmay be replaced whenever worn sufficiently to pre vent its holding theparts in proper relation to insure the prompt and firm engagement of thenotched clamping-block H with the notched sheath D. The sword might,however, be made without the slot J, and the supportingblock K might beomitted, without materially afi'ecting the general principle and actionof the invention, the nut G, in that case, resting upon the inner andunder part of the sword itself; but this arrangement would render moreexpensive the replacement of parts to compensate for wear.

The operation of the vise is as follows: The first action of the screwE, when turned to clamp a piece in the jaws of the vise, is to draw thenut G toward the movable jaw A. The action of the inclined plane N onthe inclined plane N causes the clamping-block H to rise vertically, andthus bring its notches 11. into firm engagement with the notches n ofthe sheath D. This done, the said nut, being held by the saidclamping-block, can move no farther, and the further turning of thescrew forces the jaws A and B toward each other.

When the screw is turned to release the piece from the jaws, the nut Gis thrust backward, the clamping-block drops by its own gravity, itsengagement with the sheath D ceases, and the sword (3 may then be drawnout or thrust into the sheath, within its intended limits, without usingthe screw E. A piece may thus be placed between the jaws, the movablejaw slid up against it, and a slight turning of the screw will sufiiceto fasten the piece in said jaws. It will be seen that by thusdispensing with the separate carriage for confining the nut G andclamping-block H, the sword 0 may be lengthened to include the spaceoccupied by the separate carriage, and the holding capacity of the visecorrespondingly increased.

1 claim 1. The combination of the .screw E, nut G, having the inclinedplane N, clamping-block H, having the inclined plane N and notches 'n,the slotted sword U, and the notched sheath D, substantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the screw E, nut G, clamping-block H, sword O,and sheath D, all constructed substantially as described, of thesupporting-block K, arranged substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

W. E. SNEDIKER.

Witnesses:

FRANKLIN S. MILLs, JAMES R. MILLs.

